The Institutional and Socio-Economic Constraints to Smallholder Tobacco Production and Marketing in Mount Darwin District of Zimbabwe: The Value Chain Approach

Joseph Muroiwa ,Abbyssinia Mushunje ,Tawedzegwa Musitini

doi:10.7176/jesd/10-7-09

Abstract

This research was financed by the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre. Abstract This study used the value chain approach to identify the institutional and socio-economic constraints to tobacco production and marketing in Mount Darwin District; Zimbabwe. Three hundred and eighty farmers were randomly sampled for the study. Key informant interviews were used to collect data from input suppliers, contractors, buyers, auction floors, the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board, EMA and government extension staff. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the Pairwise ranking matrix. Results from the study identified shortage of foreign currency and high transport costs as the major constraints affecting input suppliers. Dry spells, labour shortages, high inputs costs, fuel shortages, pests were some of the farmers’ constraints to tobacco production. Some of the major marketing constraints affecting the smallholder farmers included low producer prices, high transport costs, theft in transit and exploitative prices offered by tobacco merchants. Auction companies cited viability challenges due to declining tobacco volumes sold through auction floors. Tobacco contractors cited side-marketing, diversion of tobacco inputs by farmers and high operating costs as major constraints affecting their operations. The results from the study show that there are a lot of constraints affecting the smallholder tobacco chain and these can be addressed through collaboration among the chain stakeholders Keywords: institutional constraints; tobacco value chain; Mount Darwin District; smallholder farmers. DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-7-09 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

Tobacco is the “lifeblood of Zimbabwe’s economy” accounting for 10-43% of the country’s gross domestic product (Lown et al, 2016)
Mount Darwin District is one of the eight districts in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe where tobacco is the major cash crop grown by the smallholder farmers
According to the statistics released by the TIMB (2018), the district produced 13 000 tons out of 53000 tons produced in the Mashonaland Central Province (25%) in the 2016/17 season

Summary

Introduction

Tobacco is the “lifeblood of Zimbabwe’s economy” accounting for 10-43% of the country’s gross domestic product (Lown et al, 2016). Over 90,000 of Zimbabwe’s smallholder farmers are employed in the tobacco sector thereby making the industry one of the single largest employers in the country (TIMB, 2018). Smallholder tobacco farmers continue to battle with socio-economic and institutional challenges. Despite the increase in the number of tobacco merchants in Zimbabwe from three in 2000 to twenty-one as at the 2015 marketing season, it is worrisome that the industry still faces institutional challenges with some farmers contemplating of quitting tobacco production. Instead of registering a steady growth, the sector saw the number of registered tobacco farmers declining by 8% between 2014 and 2015 resulting in a drop in production between these successive seasons (TIMB, 2015). It can be argued that Zimbabwe has many merchants in the tobacco value chain, farmers still face challenges in the production and marketing of tobacco

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion